Michael Olunga’s brace helped Al Duhail secure a 2-0 win over Al Arabi in the QNB Stars League yesterday. The former champions are just three points behind leaders Al Sadd, but have played two games more than their rivals.
Al Sadd’s match against Qatar SC, which was scheduled for Friday, was postponed due to outbreak of coronavirus in the Wolves camp. Their match against Al Wakrah was also deferred due to the same reason a couple of weeks back.
Olunga scored his goals in the fourth and 48 minutes respectively which took Duhail’s tally to 29 points as they consolidated their second place. Al Arabi remain fourth with 20 points after their fifth defeat.
Duhail grabbed an early lead through Olunga, who took advantage of Almoez Ali’s pass after the Al Arabi defence failed to clear the ball. And Olunga hit the ball home to the right of goalkeeper Sataa Al Abbasi.
The second half was full of excitement and Al Duhail soon added a second goal, again through Olunga, who received Mohamed Alaaeldin’s cross from the right before finding the target. In the 68th minute, Al Arabi’s Abdulrahman Fahmy fired a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, but it missed the target.
The match became fast-paced and Al Arabi pressed hard to reduce the margin, but the Al Duhail defence held firm. In the 79 minute, Ahmed Fathy penetrated through the Al Duhail defence and was alone in the goal, but goalkeeper Salah Zakaria came to the rescue.
Olunga was recently feted for his exploits in the 2021 Asian Champions League.
He has scored 15 goals in this season’s campaign.
